8 skin-transforming miracle night creams Why we love it: As you’d expect from Clarins,
a great texture, plenty of active plant extracts and good results. Why we love it: It may be tipped for use before bed, but the soft, non-greasy texture creates a dewy base for make-up. Why we love it: Precious rose extracts give this
a hefty price tag but it’s had great feedback from editors and experts, and is a lovely way to treat your skin. Why we love it: Featuring alpha hydroxy acids and matrikin peptides that boost brightness, this overnight treatment makes a visible difference to tired or (whisper it) hungover skin. Why we love it:
Packed with omega-rich rosehip
oil, this is a great nightstand staple, from one of our favourite facialists. Why we love it: Our PM staple nourishes dry skin with a rich (yet instantly absorbed) texture and a hit of anti-ageing retinol. Why we love it: This retinol-based cream is tough on wrinkles, but gentle on skin, thanks to a breakthrough formula.
Use at night, when cell renewal is at its highest. Why we love it: Looks luxurious, feels silky and leaves skin feeling plumped and cushiony - just three of the reasons why we love Philosophy's new overnight cream. Packed with collagen-boosting (and brightening) vitamin c, peptides and skin strengthening marine extracts, it doesn't just add moisture, it works to speed up the skin's natural repair processes while you slumber.Fresher looking skin by morning. Which is a bit of a miracle, no matter how much sleep you've had. Beautifying while you sleep is the ultimate in multi-tasking, it's so important to keep your skin hydrated while you sleep, especially in winter. The cold air mixed with blasts of central heating play havoc with the condition of your skin - drying it out quickly and causing irritation. Having a good night cream is imperative, particularly as we get older and our skin needs more TLC. Busy lifestyles can mean skin maintenance often falls to the bottom of our priority list;
but it's also a lot easier than you would think thanks to the large batch of overnight treatments now available. Packed full of actives, from gentle acids to heavyweight protein-boosters, these top eight carefully selected (and hopefully timeless) products are so much more than your average night cream. Enjoy complete and utter hydration... Beauty products that save time Best celebrity beauty looks at Cannes 2015 12 of the best moisturisers for under £15 The best skin-transforming facial serums Should you be using Fur Oil? You know, down *there* The ‘banana bun’ is the latest lazy-girl hair trend you should try You'll want a 'banana bun' ASAP (no, it's not a cake) Subscribe to Red today for just £18 for 12 issues! There’s now a perfume that smells like kitten fur Or should we say, purrfume? This is how long you should keep your makeup for Otherwise things start to get really ickyLet’s start by looking at a known favourite of the Geeks – hyaluronic acid (HA).
Keen Beauty Geeks will know that we’ve raved about this molecule before – most recently in our review of Fountain’s “The Hyaluronic Molecule”! HA is a naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan (long unbranched molecules made of repeating sugar units), and is concentrated in the dermal layer of the skin. It sits in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the skin, and binds water molecules to stop them escaping through the epidermis. In addition, HA interacts with other ECM molecules such as collagen to support the skin’s elasticity and studies concentrating on combining both molecules have found potential wound healing applications. This works to support the claim of ‘faster cell renewal’, but Nivea has emphasised its use of short chain HA. Naturally, these soak into the skin more easily than long chain HA and they are thought to encourage cell migration and inflammatory processes during wound healing. Recently, we’ve also seen some testing of new “nano” hyaluronic acid (that’s really small HA!), which has been shown to have significant benefits for aged skin when applied topically, so it looks like small really can be mighty here!
It is known that HA levels in the epidermis decrease naturally with age, and boosting HA levels in the skin have been the target of many anti-ageing strategies. Nivea is off to a good start with this little moisture booster! Moving on to the Magnolia officianalis (more commonly known simply as houpu magnolia) bark extract, which is an ingredient traditionally used in Chinese herbal medicine. The bark contains two principle active ingredients – mangnolol and honokiol. These two scientific players have antibacterial activity against species of bacteria like the Propionibacteria, some of which are a major cause of acne. They’ve also been shown to have strong anti-inflammatory activity in skin conditions, and are thought to suppress pro-inflammatory markers like nitric oxide and TNF. They also act to block inflammatory pathways like the cyclooxygenase and NF-kB pathways, all leading to an anti-inflammatory punch! Swiftly on to creatine – and if you’re particularly interested in this molecule then head over to our creatine Molecular Mondays feature!
Famed as a body-building gym supplement, you might be surprised to hear that it has some interesting beauty benefits too! When applied topically, creatine has been shown to easily penetrate the skin barrier and enter the dermis. Studies using both in vitro (in cultures cells) methods and looking at the effects on human skin have shown its benefits to aged skin, showing increased production of the structural skin protein collagen and reduced ‘cheek sagging intensity’. A significant reduction in crow’s feet and wrinkles under the eye were also observed! It’s looking good for creatine-containing products on the market! So Nivea, that’s 3 out of 3 active ingredients with savvy science! Reviewers on the Boots site seem satisfied, with reports of improved pore appearance and skin feeling ‘soft and silky’. Missmakeupmagpie was also impressed with the whole Nivea Cellular Anti-Age Skincare range – good news for Nivea! Now for the verdict… HA is certainly a star player in the beauty world as a great skin-firming ingredient, and it’s great to see the science backing up their use of creatine in the formula!